Pearl Palin

LIKE The Alexandra Hall, the Princess Ballroom, Halifax was another of the town's Art Deco auditoriums.

"The Princess will be forever associated with the name of Pearl Paling, pictured above, who dragged the old time dancing scene kicking and screaming into the beat boom culture of the 60s and beyond.

"She became the name associated with dancing as all the other venues were commonly called by the correct name but the Princess Ballroom was always called Paling's by everyone.

"She made many timely bookings but two of the biggest names were undoubtedly Herman's Hermits and the Kinks.

"She booked Herman's Hermits for their only appearance at the Princess on Friday, August 21, 1964 the day before their first chart entry with I'm Into Something Good. It was a record which would eventually replace The Kinks' You Really Got Me at the top of the charts.

"The full house was treated to a first class show. In addition to Peter Noone, the band comprised of Derek Leckenby on lead guitar, Karl Green on bass, Keith Hopwood on rhythm guitar and the drummer was Barry Whitwam.

"At the end of the show the band had to wait a long time before planning to escape down the iron stairs of the fire exit to avoid the hordes of girls swarming around the ballroom entrance. The Evening Courier christened the euphoria 'Hermania.'

"Friday, September 11, 1964 was the date that the Kinks came to town and it turned out to be one of the best, if not the best of Pearl's bookings because the day after they performed in Halifax, You Really Got Me was sitting right at the top of the NME Pop Chart.

"The band was formed in the early 60s by brothers Ray (guitar and lead vocals) and Dave Davies (lead guitar) who were joined initially by Mickey Willet (drums) and Peter Quaife (bass.)"

The book includes a report from the Evening Courier describing how hundreds of teenage fans were turned away without tickets after the dance was a sell-out and when the group eventually left the stage they were mobbed by fans in the hall.

"The Princess ballroom date turned out to be a defining moment in the life of 20-year-old Ray Davies. He had been seeing a girl called Rasa Didzpetris, who he first met earlier in the year in Sheffield at the Esquire Club. She came to the Halifax concert and backstage after the show she dropped a massive bombshell when she told him she was pregnant.

"Ray did the honorable thing and he and Rasa were married and on May 23, 1965, Rasa gave birth to a baby girl. Like any good songwriter, Ray spent the two hours waiting for the news of the new arrival by writing the lyrics to I Go To Sleep.

"On April 16, 1964 The Animals entered the UK charts with their first Columbia release Baby Let Me Take You Home and two days later they were performing on the Princess stage. The incredible Pearl Paling had done it again by attracting a ground-breaking band to the ballroom within days of their debut hit.

"Their next release would be the seminal pop R&B classic House Of The Rising Sun, which not only did they play at the Princess at the dance on Saturday, April 18, but it would go on to top both the British and American charts."

Trevor goes on to document the appearances at the Princess of other chart-toppers including Jimmy Crawford and The Ravens, Vince Eager, Country Gentlemen, Freddie Starr and The Midnighters, The Escorts, The Sheffields and The Paramounts who were later to reform as Procol Harum.

"With the close proximity of Halifax being only a 45 minute drive from Manchester there were a great many of the city's groups who crossed the Pennines in their clapped out old Commer vans on the A58 or the A672 to perform in the town.

"The likes of Johnny Peters and The Crestas, The Toggery Five, Stylos, Phantoms and The Cyclones were all regulars in the early Sixties. Along with the local Halifax groups and bands (including Moon- Trekkers, Tree, Pythagoras Squares, The Calderbeats) these lads were the lifeblood of the dance halls from the early group days of Twist and Shout to the advent of soul and blues, followed by progressive, psychedelic and heavy metal bands in the later 60s.

"The format was always the same for the boys who played the music. They would travel to the venue, set up the gear, have a few pints, smoke a few cigs, do the show, pack up the gear and if they were lucky, romance a few girls before eating fish and chips on the way home in the back of the van."

Pearl Palin